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World of Level Design

Tutorials to Becoming the Best Level Designer and Game Environment Artist (since 2008)

Abandoned House Created with Source Engine
LATEST TUTORIALS

Maya Beginner Tutorial Series 6/17: Component Mode and How to Work with Polygon Vertices, Edges, Faces

The following tutorial series is directly from Module 1 of 3 of "Maya Foundation: Home-Study Course" tutorial course.

I've released this entire first Module completely free. It is focused on teaching you how to get started learning Maya completely from scratch in 4 hours.

In this tutorial you will learn how to work with object's Component Mode. Be able to manipulate/change vertices, edges, faces and more...


Maya Beginner Tutorial Series 5/17: Geometry Modeling Basics and How to Work With Polygon Objects

The following tutorial series is directly from Module 1 of 3 of "Maya Foundation: Home-Study Course" tutorial course.

I've released this entire first Module completely free. It is focused on teaching you how to get started learning Maya completely from scratch in 4 hours.

In this tutorial you will learn how to work with polygon objects in Maya to begin your modeling journey...


Maya Beginner Tutorial Series 4/17: Viewport View Options and How to Setup Viewports for Modeling

The following tutorial series is directly from Module 1 of 3 of "Maya Foundation: Home-Study Course" tutorial course.

I've released this entire first Module completely free. It is focused on teaching you how to get started learning Maya completely from scratch in 4 hours.

In this tutorial we will cover various panel viewport toolbar options to improve modeling and working in Maya...


Maya Beginner Tutorial Series 3/17: Mastering Viewport Navigation

The following tutorial series is directly from Module 1 of 3 of "Maya Foundation: Home-Study Course" tutorial course.

I've released this entire first Module completely free. It is focused on teaching you how to get started learning Maya completely from scratch in 4 hours.

In this tutorial we will cover how to master viewport navigation in Maya...


Maya Beginner Tutorial Series 2/17: Interface Overview - Everything You Need to Know

The following tutorial series is directly from Module 1 of 3 of "Maya Foundation: Home-Study Course" tutorial course.

I've released this entire first Module completely free. It is focused on teaching you how to get started learning Maya completely from scratch in 4 hours.

In this tutorial we will cover Maya interface and everything you need to know...


Maya Beginner Tutorial Series 1/17: First Time In Maya and How To Set Up Projects

The following tutorial series is directly from Module 1 of 3 of "Maya Foundation: Home-Study Course" tutorial course.

I've released this entire first Module completely free. It is focused on teaching you how to get started learning Maya completely from scratch in 4 hours.

In this tutorial I will show you how to set up projects in Maya.


WoLD is Now on Patreon - Support WoLD and Get 3D Environment Assets and Props

Welcome to World of Level Design Patreon!

As many of you know I've been creating and sharing 3d tutorials since 2008.

I have created a lot of environments, levels, props, textures and usable assets over the years but many of these never get to see the light of day.

I want to change that by sharing environment assets and props you can use to create with. This way at least you get to use them.

By joining and becoming a part of WoLD Patreon, you will continue to support WoLD work...


Substance Painter: How to Add Roughness Variation to a Material/Textures (3 Options)

In this tutorial I will show you 3 options for how to break up and add variation into your Roughness channel and textures.

  • Option #1: Using Existing Roughness Channel (Simplest Way)
  • Option #2: New Fill Layer w/Roughness Only
  • Option #3: Best Option for Roughness Variation with Full Control


Substance Painter: Texture Channels and What They Do EXPLAINED (Most Important Tutorial for Beginners)

Each new layer you create (Fill or Empty Layer) will give you the following Channels: Base Color, Roughness, Metallic, Normal and Height.

All of them will be enabled by default but you can disable any of them at any time. This gives you control what information you want to create on that specific layer.

You need to know how to work with each of these channels in Substance Painter. In addition, you also need to know how to work with Masks.

In this post I will show you everything you need to know about Texturing Channels to start texturing in Substance Painter better and faster...


Substance Sampler: Convert/Create Masks from Existing Textures (Base Color and Normal Maps)

Learn how to convert existing textures such as Base Color or Normal Map into Texture Masks.

This tutorial contains following 2 methods:

  • Creating Masks from Base Color Texture
  • Creating Masks from a Normal Map (or Convert Normal Map to Height and AO)


Substance Painter: Using Clone Tool (Great for Fixing Tiling Seams or Copying Texture Elements)

Learn how to use the Clone tool to fix seams, tiling texture issues, removing repeating elements and copying elements from one area of the texture to another.


UE5: Quick Tip Tutorials - Part 3 (Tips #21-30)

Quick Tip Series is created for beginners and advanced Unreal Engine 5 users.

These are quick, useful tips to help improve, refine, fix and remind you of tools, techniques and principles you may have not known or forgotten about.

All videos are short and get straight to the point.

The following Part 3 includes the following 10 Quick Tips...


Substance Painter/UE5: Steps to Export Textures from Painter, Import and Create Materials in UE5/UE4

How do you export textures from Substance Painter and import them into UE5 or UE4?

Then how to use these textures to create a material?

In this tutorial I will show you how...


Substance Painter: How to Create Tiling Cinder Block Textures (Clean/Pained and Old/Damaged)

You need Cinder Block textures and you need them now. There aren't any cinder blocks Standard Materials or Smart Materials that are included with Substance Painter.

But you can stay entirely in Substance Painter and use a Brick Generator texture to create a mask then build up the material yourself where you'll have full control over every property.

In this tutorial I will show you how to create two types of cinder block textures entirely in Substance Painter: clean/painted and old/damage.


Substance Painter: Two Ways to Creating Tiling/Seamless Textures and Export Them (Step-by-Step)

Tiling is a method of repeating a texture horizontally and vertically to cover large geometry surfaces. Tiling textures are ideal for walls, floors, ceilings, landscapes or any continuous large surface. You can create seamless, tiling textures right inside Substance Painter and there are two methods you can use to do so.

I use this all the time (primarily the 2nd option), especially when creating modular assets that need tiling textures...


Let's Texture #2: Decal Stamp Supply Image in - HL2 Inspired (Photoshop)

In this Let's Texture #2 episode, we'll create a decal stamp in Photoshop with rounded corners and transparent background to be used in Substance Painter. I used this image stamp in Let's Texture #1 to apply it to the wooden supply crate.


Let's Texture #1: Wooden Supply Crate - HL2 Inspired (Substance Painter)

Let's Texture Half-Life 2 inspired wooden supply crate using Substance Painter. It is one of the most iconic props to be created for a game.

We'll go through the entire texturing process...


Now Out - "UE5: Retro Office Project" Tutorial Course

"Substance 3D Painter Essentials" tutorial course is now available to download.

It is the complete beginner guide to texturing with Substance 3D Painter for environments and props...


My Current Prototyping Blockout Process for Modular Environment Creation

Ask yourself: "What is the smallest part of the environment I can create with the minimum amount of workable assets to showcase it? Before expanding to the rest of the environment?"

You think you need to create hundreds of assets and different variations of them right from the start. But instead of creating 5 different mesh variations for walls, windows, floors, doors - create just one that works. You can always expand and add variations later. But do just one first.

This is what I’ve been doing when working on modular environment assets. I focus on building a small prototype of one small area using only a handful of modular assets. Then I expand to the rest of the environment.

In this tutorial I will share my current workflow for prototyping blockouts for modular environments...


Tips and Tricks to Using Photoshop Generative Fill to Create Level Design and Environment Art Ideas

Generative Fill is an AI image creation tool in Photoshop that can be put to great use for ideas. It can create additional visual information inside or outside the image.

Find an image: can be a photo, concept art, completed work you've done or even half-finished projects and blockouts. Then run Generative Fill and watch ideas roll in.

In this tutorial you will learn how to use Photoshop's Generative Fill and all the tricks and tips to begin generating more ideas...


Making Of Globe Staircase - Comprehensive Process for Creating Environments Faster (Maya, UE5, Megascans)

You have to allow yourself to experiment with different workflows to create environments faster.

Many projects can be done quicker if you let yourself try things out more while not having to create the "perfect environment" using "perfect workflow".

Instead of creating a modular asset pack then having to texture and construct the environment in UE5. What if I modeled everything in Maya and completed the entire environment? Then exported everything out of Maya into UE5 without having to reconstruct it?

Here is the full comprehensive breakdown on Making of The Globe Staircase...


UE5: Definitive Guide to Using Quixel Bridge to Create, Texture and Detail Your Environments

Quixel Bridge gives you access to completed Megascans assets such as materials, 3d models and MetaHumans to bring into Unreal Engine.

With these you can detail your environments very quickly.

In this in-depth tutorial guide, I'll tell you everything you need to know to begin using Quixel Bridge to create with.


UE5: How to Add and Use Sound Wav and Sound Cues to Create Environment Sounds in Unreal Engine 5

Once you have a Wav file imported into UE5, you need to create a Sound Cue from it to use it.

You can insert both into your level - Sound Wav and Sound Cue. But you will have more power with a Sound Cue.

In this tutorial we'll cover how to use Wav files and create Sound Cues to use in your environments.


UE5: Edit, Convert, Export Custom Sounds from Audacity and Import Them Into UE5

Sound FX is one of the most overlooked and underused aspects of environment design. Yet sound is what makes the entire location come together with atmosphere and mood.

In this tutorial I will show you how to get, edit, export and import custom sounds from Audacity into UE5.


UE5: Complete Guide to Creating and Using LUTs for Color Grading

LUT stands for color lookup table. It is a small image file that contains color information of your scene. You can create and use these LUTs in UE5 within Post Process Volume to change the look and feel of your environment.

Here is everything you need to know how to create and use LUTs in Unreal Engine 5...


UE5: Modeling Mode - Dynamic/Static Mesh Problems and Solutions (Convert, Merge, Duplicate, Split, Export)

Using Dynamic Meshes has its upside: great for blockouts. But also has some downsides such as unable to export as FBX. In this post we'll cover a lot of problems and solutions while working with Dynamic meshes and converting them to Static Meshes.


UE5: How to Use Group/Ungroup to Create Environments Faster

Grouping objects together is a powerful technique that will make you create environments faster in UE5. The way this works is you select a bunch of objects inside your level. Group them. Then next time you select any of the objects within a group, they all get selected. Here is everything you need to know about Grouping/Ungrouping in UE5...


UE5: Placing Static Mesh Props Using Foliage Mode for Faster Environment Creation

Foliage Mode is a great way to quickly populate landscapes with grass, bushes and trees.

But it doesn't have to be just foliage. You can use this mode to place Static Mesh props.

Here is everything you need to know...


UE5: Placing Static Mesh Props Naturally and Randomly with Simulate Physics

Learn to place any Static Mesh into your level naturally and randomly without having to place them manually.


SUBSCRIBE & GET FREE UE5 PDF GUIDE

Subscribe to receive NEW/UPDATED and FREE "UE5 Beginner's Quick Start Guide" PDF (90 pages).

Subscribe and Get Free UE5 PDF Guide

Visit this page for more info about the guide...


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UE5 FUNDAMENTALS VOL.1 COURSE


UE5: RETRO OFFICE PROJECT


MAYA FOUNDATION COURSE


SUBSTANCE PAINTER ESSENTIALS


LEARN THE PREPRODUCTION PROCESS


ABOUT WoLD & ALEXG

About World of Level Design

My name is AlexG. I am self-taught level designer, game environment artist and the creator of World of Level Design.com. I've learned everything I know from personal experimentation and decades of being around various online communities of fellow environment artist and level designers. On World of Level Design you will find tutorials to make you become the best level designer and game environment artist.

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